The return of "1,000-yuan daily internship salary" signals the restart of the quantitative corps' "arms race."
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Since 2018, China's quantitative private equity industry has been running at full speed, with only a few pauses.
In just a few years, the number of quantitative private equity firms with over 10 billion RMB in assets has broken through 30, the leading camp has gradually solidified, and salary levels have been generally pushed higher.
Although in the past year, as the industry's development entered a "consolidation period," those "million-yuan salary packages" and sky-high daily rates have kept a low profile, falling out of the spotlight both inside and outside the financial community. In reality, the quantitative industry is still in an overall phase of salary inflation.
Now, as this year's autumn and winter recruitment season begins, the salary gates of quantitative firms have opened, and the overall salary curve has climbed again. Moreover, this time the salary "inflation" is not just a bubble, but a tangible rise in the salary structure.
With the rise of "1,000-yuan daily internship pay," market data is illustrating a new reality: as internet giants slow their hiring and shrink budgets, quantitative giants are going in the opposite direction, increasing offers to fight for top talent······
Return of the “1,000-yuan daily wage”
Jiukun Investment is one of the country's leading quantitative private equity firms, managing over 60 billion RMB, and its affiliated company Jiukun Venture is a platform focusing on tech investment and startup incubation.
Recently, this "mother-son duo" simultaneously launched AI-related internship positions: Jiukun Investment (hedge fund platform) is recruiting "AI Algorithm Interns," while Jiukun Venture (incubation investment platform) is hiring "AI Industry Researchers."
The most eye-catching aspect is the salary level for these two positions.
According to information disclosed by a leading job recruitment website: The daily wage for Jiukun Investment’s AI Algorithm Intern is as high as 800-1,000 RMB, while Jiukun Venture’s AI Industry Researcher is 300-400 RMB.
Based on the job postings, the algorithm position works three days a week, with a six-month internship period; the highest pre-tax monthly salary can exceed 12,000 RMB. The research position works five days a week, with a three-month internship period, and the pre-tax monthly salary is nearly 6,000 RMB. For students, this level of income is already at the "ceiling" for financial internships.
Though both positions are AI-related, their roles differ. The algorithm position focuses more on model and data-level R&D, while the research position centers on industry observation and investment analysis.
Simply put: one position is "doing AI," the other is "watching AI."
“Spending speed” of the autumn recruitment season
Every September and October is a peak season for talent in quantitative private equity.
Whether seasoned professionals or fresh graduates, many reassess their next steps at this point. Some take the opportunity to change jobs before year-end to qualify for their new company's annual bonus after a full year. Others use the autumn recruitment window to lock in an ideal quantitative internship.
For this reason, the offer prices during this period often best reflect an institution’s "spending power."
Take the Jiukun system as an example: not only does the parent company Jiukun Investment recruit for its core quant hedge business, Jiukun Venture also continues to expand in the tech investment sector.
Jiukun Venture’s "AI Industry Researcher/Analyst" position offers a monthly salary of 30,000 to 60,000 RMB, with a 16-month payout system (i.e., 16 monthly salary payments per year).
Based on the upper limit, this job pays a pre-tax annual salary of about 960,000 RMB.
This means that even in Jiukun founder's "second industry" — the tech venture line — the overall salary standard still matches the high levels of the quantitative circle.
Looking at regular positions at Jiukun Investment, such as Python Data Development Engineer (handling quant data and system setup), Quantitative Development Engineer (implementing and maintaining strategy models in code), etc., salaries are generally 30,000 to 60,000 RMB per month with 16-month payouts, and some senior positions can exceed 70,000 RMB per month.
Converted, the core development posts pay a pre-tax annual salary in the 900,000 to 1.1 million RMB range.
This “parent-child company linkage” salary system reflects the Jiukun boss’s "spending power."
Real money in the “autumn and winter battlefield”
Besides Jiukun, other top quant firms with over 50 billion RMB under management are also intensively "throwing money to grab talent" this autumn and winter.
For example, Lingjun Investment and Yanfuxiang Investment: for many quant research internships and factor research internships, the daily wage ranges from 800-1,000 RMB. Machine learning interns (doing model training and data experiments) and C++ direction interns (responsible for underlying system and trading-related development) get 400-500 RMB/day.
After conversion, research internship pre-tax monthly salaries are close to 15,000 to 20,000 RMB, far ahead of most finance internships.
Formal positions reveal even more.
Lingjun and Yanfuxiang’s core tech positions such as quant system development and high-frequency system development usually offer 30,000 to 60,000 RMB per month with a 16-month payout, pre-tax annual salaries about 480,000 to 960,000 RMB range; senior positions are even higher.
Take Minghong Investment: even recruitment manager positions are offered at 15,000 to 30,000 RMB per month, with 18-month payout, with a pre-tax annual maximum around 540,000 RMB — even roles like "hiring people for the company" are high-spec.
From thousand-yuan/day internships to tech and research posts expecting a million RMB annually, leading quant firms are offering substantial cash signals this autumn and winter.
Quant salary’s “new ceiling”
Quant firms and tech giants are competing for the same group of people.
Whether it's AI modeling, data analysis, or algorithm R&D, the underlying capability models of these roles are almost identical — all about crunching data, building models, and optimizing decisions.
Previously, this kind of talent mostly flowed to internet companies. Now, quant giants are using higher salaries and more flexible incentives to attract them to financial institutions.
According to the latest recruitment info from Wall Street Journal - Zishi Hall Math, many large internet companies offer pre-tax monthly salaries of 25,000 to 60,000 RMB for data analysis, business analysis, and AI product roles, using a "15 salary" or "16 salary" system.
Simply put, this model pays 12 months of base salary plus a fixed 3-4 additional months as a year-end bonus — a "guaranteed year-end bonus."
This pay structure is common in companies with strong profitability, stable cash flow, and intense competition, such as major tech platforms or leading foreign firms. Using this, senior data analysis or AI product posts at major internet companies offer pre-tax annual salaries of about 400,000 to 900,000 RMB.
Quant firms are going even further.
As described above, leading quant firms’ system development and data engineering posts offer monthly salaries typically at 30,000 to 60,000 RMB with 16-month payouts; senior positions rise further, easily breaking the one million RMB mark. Some firms add excess performance revenue sharing, making total compensation closer to fund performance.
In this ebullient talent market, quant firms are expressing their position with real cash······
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